http://www.campusrn.com/jobblog/ en mmoore@campuscareercenter.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-02T00:40:00-05:00 http://www.campusrn.com/jobblog/856_million_school_budget_calls_for_more_nurses_overhaul_of_madison_park_vo/ /jobblog/856_million_school_budget_calls_for_more_nurses_overhaul_of_madison_park_vo/#When:00:40:00Z Superintendent Carol R. Johnson tonight will present an $856.5 million budget proposal for next year that calls for increasing the number of school nurses, overhauling Madison Park Vocational Technical High School in Roxbury, and continuing efforts to turn around underperforming schools. Johnson will also announce at the School Committee meeting that two middle schools --- the McCormack in Dorchester and the Irving in Roslindale—will have their days extended next year so they can provide more robust opportunities for the arts and athletics, as well as additional instruction. The extended day—the amount of additional time has not been determined—is being funded through a $2.9 million federal grant over the next three years and $600,000 in contributions from seven foundations and nonprofit organizations. Mass 2020, a state affiliate of the National Center on Time & Learning, will assist the two schools in extending the day. The schools hope to replicate the success of the Edwards Middle School in Charlestown, where an extended day has helped boost test scores and has offered students more enrichment opportunities. “We know that simply expanding the school day won’t necessarily lead to better results,” Johnson said in a statement before tonight’s meeting. “Having partners like Mass 2020 at our side as we recreate these school schedules and expand the academic and enrichment opportunities for these students will ensure that we are able to surpass all of our own expectations.” The two schools will lengthen their days just after state education officials end funding for extended days at two other schools—Timilty Middle School in Roxbury and Umana Academy in East Boston. State officials believe the extra time was not used effectively enough to boost test scores, and funding will end this June. The School Committee will also weigh a proposal to temporarily reopen a Dorchester school to accommodate a sudden influx of preschoolers who require special education immediately. If the committee approves the measure, Fifield Elementary, which closed less than a year ago, would open next week as an early childhood education center and could have seven classrooms in operation by the end of the school year. The proposal is being put forward as the School Department faces a class-action lawsuit in federal court that asserts that the department routinely violates state and federal laws by denying evaluations and classroom placements for preschoolers with special needs. The budget outlook for Boston schools for the next school year is much better than three years ago, when the nation’s economic crisis prompted the loss of hundreds of positions and other initiatives. The latest spending proposal, which requires School Committee approval next month, is 3.1 percent higher than this current school year’s budget—an increase being provided to the School Department by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, as he crafts his budget for the City Council. John McDonough, the School Department’s chief financial officer, called the increase “very significant” in an interview before the tonight’s meeting. He pointed out that other big-city districts nationwide are contemplating massive cuts to balance their budgets. Los Angeles, for instance, is considering shrinking its school year to 168 days and San Diego may cut 1,100 positions, McDonough said. But balancing the proposed school budget for next year in Boston was not easy, McDonough said. In spite of the increase, the School Department still faced a $28 million potential budget shortfall, primarily due to a reduction in state and federal grants. The School Department was able to remedy the gap through a variety of measures, such as delaying building repairs and some textbook purchases, consolidating teacher training programs, and reducing an unspecified number of vacant positions. The Department also intends to pursue new funding through President Obama’s education agenda. “One thing we are proud of is that we are able to move forward in a deliberate way to improve school quality,” McDonough said. Read Full Article Massachusetts 2012-02-02T00:40:00-05:00 http://www.campusrn.com/jobblog/maternity_nurses_see_a_rising_demand/ /jobblog/maternity_nurses_see_a_rising_demand/#When:00:35:00Z Increasingly wanted: Loving, discreet, experienced professional willing to travel the world and work through the night, feeding, cuddling and changing lots of diapers. The pay is very good — about $350 a day or more — though it includes 24 hours on call. With a house in Sarasota and roots in Yorkshire, England, Carol Lee is part of a small but growing army of “maternity nurses” (Europe) or “newborn care specialists” (the United States). While the quaint tradition of a baby nurse who moves into the house to care for newborns around the clock is alive and well in other parts of the world, the phenomenon is relatively new in America, and experienced candidates are in short supply. A spike in U.S. demand over the last few years, say Lee and others, coincides with a higher number of older mothers and multiple births. According to a Centers for Disease Control report issued last month, one in every 30 babies born is now a twin, compared to one in 53 in 1980. More than a third of all births are to women 30 and older, up from just one-fifth in 1980. Fertility treatments aside, older mothers always have been more likely to have multiple babies. Nancy Hamm, an officer with the Newborn Care Specialist Association and owner of the Exclusively Baby Nurses agency in California, said requests for help from parents of twins have more than doubled in the past three years. “There are not enough qualified people to service the growing number of multiple jobs here in the U.S.,” she said. Lee, who specializes in caring for twins, has worked for “British royalty, rock stars and footballers” on 12-week contracts, as well as middle-income families who employ her for the first week or so after birth. Her workplaces have ranged from palaces and luxury hotels to “a very small, IKEA-type house in Copenhagen.” “You’re like a bird in a gilded cage because you can’t go anywhere,” she says. “The furthest you can get is to take the baby for a walk in its buggy, if the parents allow it.” One thing most of her clients have in common, Lee says: They are high-profile, can-do people with plenty of disposable income but not so much energy for those 4 a.m. feedings. Often they live far away from families who might offer support and advice. Read Full Article National, news, Employer News 2012-02-02T00:35:00-05:00 http://www.campusrn.com/jobblog/nurses_needed2/ /jobblog/nurses_needed2/#When:17:10:00Z Nurses and other women with a history of working night shifts can join a study investigating the causes of breast cancer and how to prevent it. The Army of Women, a program of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, seeks volunteers for a study that will look at breast tissue samples from women who have not had breast cancer and who have worked night shifts. The goal is to understand whether wake/sleep cycle disruptions increase the risk of developing breast cancer. Participants should: • Be women between ages 30 and 65. • Never have had a diagnosis of breast cancer, including DCIS. A history of other cancers would not make someone ineligible to participate, however. • Not have the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. Women can participate if they do not know whether they have the mutation. • Have worked night shifts for at least five consecutive years at some point in their lives. Rotating night shift workers, meaning at least three night shifts a month in addition to day and evening hours, are eligible. Read Full Article National, news, Employer News 2012-01-31T17:10:00-05:00 http://www.campusrn.com/jobblog/where_the_jobs_are_health_care_solid_hospitality_strong_nanotech_horizon/ /jobblog/where_the_jobs_are_health_care_solid_hospitality_strong_nanotech_horizon/#When:01:19:00Z Julie Wells, 43, of Mohawk, was looking for a career where she would be able to find a job, have benefits and enough income to support her family. Want job security in the Mohawk Valley? Become a nurse. Julie Wells, 43, of Mohawk, was looking for a career where she would be able to find a job, have benefits and enough income to support her family. She decided to go into health care, a field she has worked in for 23 years. Wells is a nurse manager of maternal child services at Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare. “I knew in nursing I would always be able to find a job,” Wells said. “I think there are still opportunities in health care. In some fields it’s very difficult, if this is where you want to live, for jobs.” Wells is right on target. In the Utica-Rome area, other than government jobs, health care is at the top of the list. Manufacturing, and hospitality and entertainment, also employ large numbers of workers, said Dave Mathis, director for Oneida County Workforce Development. These major industries don’t seem to be changing anytime soon. Businesses in health care industries, for example, employed 22,205 workers in the Utica-Rome area in 2011, a number that increased 113 from 2010, according to data from Mark Barbano, state Labor Department regional analyst. And the prediction is health care will continue to grow as the population ages. Jobs have been a major issue across the nation, with the unemployment rate standing at 8.5 percent. In the Mohawk Valley, unemployment rates and industries have not seen drastic changes. “This area has been kind of interesting because we never get to the big highs in terms of jobs, or big lows,” Mathis said. “We get along steadily.” The annual average unemployment rate in the Utica-Rome area was 7.9 percent in 2010 and remained the same in 2011, compared to 8.6 percent statewide in 2010 and 8 percent in 2011, according to state Department of Labor data. Total jobs in all area industries decreased 1.4 percent from 2010 to 2011 during the January through June time period, according to the data. It was down mainly due to a decrease in federal jobs because many temporary workers were hired for the census, Barbano said. Read Full Article National, news, Employer News, New York 2012-01-31T01:19:00-05:00 http://www.campusrn.com/jobblog/top_10_nursing_specialties/ /jobblog/top_10_nursing_specialties/#When:14:53:00Z From CampusRN user Erin McKinney If you’re planning for a career in nursing, you might want to consider which jobs are the highest paying out of all the nursing specialties. Here are the top ten highest paying specialties in nursing, with salaries from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. 1) Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist – $135,000 Nurse anesthetists have the responsibility of administering anesthesia to patients. They work under the supervision of physicians, surgeons, dentists, anesthesiologists, and other specialists in a variety of settings, such as hospitals, clinics, outpatient centers, or research centers. They are trained to administer all approved anesthetic techniques. 2) Nurse Researcher – $95,000 Nurse researchers usually work at laboratories and universities conducting or assisting in scientific research and evaluation. Their studies may cover a variety of fields, such as biology, psychology, and health care systems. They may also be lecturers and professors of nursing at academic institutions. 3) Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner – $95,000 Psychiatric nurse practitioners work with individuals with psychiatric disorders, mental conditions, or who suffer from substance abuse. They are licensed to diagnose and treat psychiatric disorders and they can practice autonomously in 20 states. Some may specialize in a certain group of individuals, such as children, adolescents, or adults, and they work in a variety of facilities, from hospitals and clinics to emergency services and community health centers. 4) Certified Nurse Midwife – $84,000 Nurse midwives offer care to women with low-risk pregnancies through the postpartum period. They offer a range of services, from gynecological care and child delivery to menopausal care. They may work independently or work under the supervision of a physician. Nurse midwives can also prescribe medications and treatments to their patients. 5) Pediatric Endocrinology Nurse – $81,000 Pediatric endocrinology nurses care for children who have diseases related to the endocrine system, which cause problems with physical growth and sexual development. The most common diseases they deal with are diabetes, intersex disorders, hypoglycemia, and puberty difficulties. These nurses help children and their families learn how to deal with the problems related to the disease and offer treatment. 6) Orthopedic Nurse – $81,000 Orthopedic nurses help patients who have musculoskeletal disorders, which can range from acute fractures to bone density disorders. They are trained in specific skills such as muscle rehabilitation, casting, and neurovascular monitoring. They work in a variety of settings, from trauma and emergency departments to sports medicine and acute care. 7) Nurse Practitioner – $78,000 Nurse practitioners are registered nurses who have received advanced training in nursing. They generally specialize in a specific field, such as pediatrics, geriatrics, or women’s health and must be licensed or certified through a state medical board. Some work under the supervision of doctors, but they can also serve as primary care providers and supervise other nurses. They focus on educating patients toward prevention and healthy lives. 8) Clinical Nurse Specialist – $76,000 Clinical nurse specialists care for patients in a manner similar to nurse practitioners, but they also work to improve the work of other nurses and the overall health system. They offer advice and education to health offices and clinics in order to help them provide better care. 9) Gerontological Nurse Practitioner – $75,000 Gerontological nurse practitioners specialize in the field of gerontology, which studies the effects of aging. They care for older adults with acute and chronic diseases related to aging, which may range from cardiovascular disease and diabetes to dizziness and stroke. 10) Neonatal Nurse – $74,000 Neonatal nurses care for newborn infants up to a month old. They offer care to both healthy infants and those with minor or serious health conditions who need extra care in order to survive. They are usually registered nurses (RNs) who may or may not have neonatal specializations. This article was written by Erin McKinney, who is a licensed nurse practitioner. Erin also owns the site Masters of Nursing for students interested in getting an advanced degree in the nursing field. Career, National, news, Employer News 2012-01-26T14:53:00-05:00 http://www.campusrn.com/jobblog/supporting_nurses_across_cultures/ /jobblog/supporting_nurses_across_cultures/#When:02:18:00Z The Community College of Baltimore County School of Health Professions has received its third Nursing Support Program grant from the Maryland Higher Education Commission since 2007. The three-year grant worth $571,448 is for the school’s “Minority Student Retention and Success” project.  This grant, which runs through June 30, 2014, will be used to maximize the use of CCBC’s simulation technology capabilities; increase retention and graduation rates among minority students in the nursing program; and provide culturally relevant teaching for faculty, staff and students to enhance their sensitivity when communicating with those from other cultures, especially their patients. “CCBC has been revising its nursing curriculum for the past several years to better reflect the current and future workplace,” said Elizabeth Webster, RNC MS, nursing program coordinator and project director for the grant. “Initially, we tackled the didactic part of the curriculum. This grant will enable us to focus on the clinical education component that is designed to mirror direct patient care and give students a more hands-on, sensory educational experience.” Read Full Article National, news, Employer News 2012-01-26T02:18:00-05:00 http://www.campusrn.com/jobblog/sic_taking_applications_for_new_hybrid_online_nursing_degree/ /jobblog/sic_taking_applications_for_new_hybrid_online_nursing_degree/#When:02:13:00Z HARRISBURG—Southeastern Illinois College is seeking students to enroll in its part-time hybrid online associate degree nursing (ADN) program.  The new program is a product of the Southern Illinois Online Nursing Initiative (SIONI) and is approved by the Illinois Board of Nursing. Applications are available at www.sic.edu/onlinenursing. The deadline for submitting applications is March 31. Classes will begin in August. “We are excited about the implementation of the SIONI hybrid-online ADN nursing program,” said Gina Sirach, director of nursing and allied health at SIC. “This part-time program will increase our capacity to prepare students to further their careers as nurses, and it will allow students the flexibility, over a four-semester period, to access newly developed courses outside of the traditional classroom.” Sirach indicated that all nursing theory classes will be offered online, while all required on-campus labs and clinicals will meet one or two days per week. Read Full Article National, news, Illinois, Employer News 2012-01-26T02:13:00-05:00 http://www.campusrn.com/jobblog/a_new_year_for_a_new_nursing_student/ /jobblog/a_new_year_for_a_new_nursing_student/#When:01:41:00Z As a first-year mental health nursing student I started my course in September 2011, along with around 20 other enthusiastic would-be nurses, of all ages and backgrounds. With the pride and excitement of achieving a place on a nursing degree course still freshly buzzing around my head, I believe I made the mistake of focusing on how many sharpened pencils were in my brand-spanking new pencil case instead of getting stuck straight in, despite several pre-warnings from newly-qualified friends. Perhaps three or four weeks prior to assignments being due for submission, I found myself desperately trying to search for books in the university library that were already on loan and trying to avoid having to learn to search for journals. With regards to my first clinical placement, I may as well have skipped onto the ward with a sign stating the words ‘Florence Nightingale II’ stuck to my forehead with a drawing pin. Needless to say, I left the dementia assessment unit after my first shift with tears being determinedly held back, and tail firmly tucked between ones legs. My first experience of dementia certainly opened my eyes. I have never been frightened of working. Although unfamiliar, the shift pattern was something I grew accustomed to rather quickly. However, it was my sheer ignorance of how many learning opportunities that would suddenly be placed in front of me that really took me aback - first-year ignorance at its exemplory best. I also found that almost every single nursing student has an “I will never cut it as a nurse” moment; in my case, there were more than one. Being a nursing student genuinely is a case of learning something new every single day; luckily, I was blessed with the opportunity to work with a fantastic, supportive group of staff on my first placement. Read Full Article National, news, Employer News 2012-01-24T01:41:00-05:00 http://www.campusrn.com/jobblog/nursing_jobs_for_you_and_your_future/ /jobblog/nursing_jobs_for_you_and_your_future/#When:01:38:00Z GYMPIE TAFE’s Diploma of Nursing course is celebrating its first birthday after being introduced for the first time in 2011. And the course already is aiming to secure real jobs for its graduates, with training from instructors well qualified theoretically and in the field. Brenden Cooke has joined the team at Gympie TAFE, after having been a registered nurse working in operating theatres at Nambour Hospital until recently. The latest course begins on Monday and anyone interested should phone 1300 656 188 to find out more so they can enrol by the end of this week. Mr Cooke is one of three nursing teachers at the Wide Bay TAFE’s Gympie campus. And with a fully equipped replica hospital ward for a classroom, there could be few better places to learn the vital healing skills which keep hospitals going and their patients on the road to recovery. With real hospital beds (peopled with specially designed practice dummies) and real equipment, the course is a practical hands-on experience aimed at training people and ensuring they can get jobs at the end of it. Mr Cooke’s fellow nursing teacher Rose Ann Winnett said: “The TAFE Diploma of Nursing is a qualification in itself, allowing graduates to work as endorsed enrolled nurses.” Read Full Article National, news, Employer News 2012-01-24T01:38:00-05:00 http://www.campusrn.com/jobblog/encouraging_a_more_collaborative_medical_culture/ /jobblog/encouraging_a_more_collaborative_medical_culture/#When:01:26:00Z I remember hearing the phrase, “Watch out. Nurses eat their young,” when I first entered the health-care profession 17 years ago. It’s a phrase that baffles me as much now as it did then. After all, it’s no secret that there is a nursing shortage. Perhaps instead of belittling and demeaning new generations of clinicians, seasoned health-care providers should mentor and support them.  When I was starting out, I was lucky to have two wonderful mentors, Marti and Karen, who were as different in style and personality as any two nurses could be. But together they gave me a solid foundation of assessment and organization skills that I still depend on as an advanced practice nurse today. Although my mentors were exacting and sometimes very tough with me, I always felt supported. I knew I had an ally in both of them, if I was uncertain or floundering. They never made me feel stupid or tried to embarrass me in front of my boss or other nurses. Read Full Article National, news, Employer News 2012-01-24T01:26:00-05:00